• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

RELIGIONS OF TIBET IN PRACTICE Donald S. Lopez, Jr., Editor WM mk PRINCETON RE ADINGS IN RELIGIONS P R I N C E T O N U NIVER SITY PRESS PRINCE! O N , NEW JERSEY 2 2 From the Autobiography of a Visionary Janet Gyatso Literary theorists have maintained that autobiography is a genre that is largely exclusive to the modern West, but Tibetan literature provides evidence to the contrary. A large number of autobiographies have been written by Tibetans, mostly religious figures, with no known influence from the West. N o r are there significant analogues of this genre in Indian or Chinese literary traditions. Tibetan religious autobiographies were written as early as the eleventh century but have been produced in significant quantity since the sixteenth century, and in great numbers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Such texts are written in a variety of contexts, and with a variety of intentions. Most Tibetan Buddhist au- tobiographers state that an account of their personal experiences might be instruc- tive to their disciples. They also write about their life experiences in order to demonstrate their own spiritual progress, to contextualize and cast legitimating light on their other writings, and to attract students and patrons. There are various subgenres of Tibetan autobiography, and it is not uncommon for a single author to write several accounts of his or her life from the different perspectives these subgenres represent. The author represented here, Jigme Lingpa ('Jigs med gling pa, 1730-1798), wrote several autobiographical works, including two "secret autobiographies," a subgenre that focuses primarily upon meditative experiences, visions, and realizations. In contrast, the selections trans- lated below, from Jigme Lingpa's 455-page "outer autobiography," are part of the narrative of his publicly observable deeds—such as childhood events, education, travels, and so forth—although as w i l l be seen, the outer account can reflect on inner thoughts and feelings as well. Jigme Lingpa was a well-known teacher and revealer of "treasure texts" (gter wa) in the Nyingma sect of Tibetan Buddhism. He stayed in retreat from the ages of twenty-eight to thirty-three. During this retreat he is believed to have had several significant visions, which he later committed to writing, entitled "The Heart Sphere of the Great Expanse" (Klong chen snying thig). He established a retreat center in central Tibet close to the Yarlung valley where the tombs of the 370 JANET GYATSO ancient Tibetan kings are located, and he attracted a significant and influential following. His "Heart Sphere" writings remain the most widely practiced medi- tations and liturgies among adherents of the Great Perfection tradition of the Nyingma. He is the author of a nine-volume "Collected Works," which includes an important study of the O l d Canon of Tantras, "The Heart Sphere" cycle, and several original works on early Tibetan history and architectural sites, in addition to the outer autobiography excerpted here. Autobiographies and biographies of all sorts are extremely popular reading material in Tibet, and an outer autobiography such as Jigme Lingpa's is well known to both lay and monastic readers. Although not the most carefully crafted of his works, it is typical of his subtle and often complex style and is rich in anecdotes and wry humor concerning especially his later life as a sought-after teacher and tantric master. It reproduces much of his correspondence, as well as some of the poems and songs for which he was admired. The song contained in the first selection translated below has achieved fame on its own for its suggestive tantric nuances; it has since been excerpted in a widely used as part of the liturgy of a communal feast (ganacakra) that takes place at the conclusion of a tantric initiation; it is often sung in Nyingma rituals with a haunting melody. Both of the selections presented here are of primary interest for the insight they give into the sort of relationship that obtained in Buddhist Tibet between a vi- sionary such as Jigme Lingpa and powerful lay political figures. Such figures would request Buddhist teachings from a master and in return would offer vital economic and political support for the master's projects and community of fol- lowers. Autobiographies are especially useful in shedding light on some of the more subtle and complex aspects of such a relationship—for example, the private doubts and cynical attitude we see Jigme Lingpa harboring in both of the following selections concerning these figures' affluent life-styles and the unlikelihood of their developing genuine religious insights—which would not be evident in other sorts of writings and documents. The first selection concerns Jigme Lingpa's initial meeting with a member of the powerful Yuthok (G.yu thok) aristocratic family, who was an important gov- ernment official. After granting a few perfunctory ritual blessings and assessing Yuthok's attitude toward religion and ability to develop the faith (or "pure vision") necessary for tantric Buddhist practice, Jigme Lingpa sings a symbolic song that transforms their encounter into a charged moment of bonding between a tantric master and his circle of students. The song merges classical Indie poetic imagery with a distinctively Tibetan longing for warmer climes and constructs an allegory of a special moment of close feelings. The "peacock from eastern India," a stock phrase in Tibetan popular lyrical tradition, would be Yuthok himself. In Tibet the peacock's tail feathers were often worn ornamentally on hats as insignia of official rank, serving as an emblem of beauty, dignity, and noblesse. The reference to the rainbow colored circular design in the peacock's plumage, a conventional symbol for the primordial light-sphere (thig le) of Great Perfection meditation, is a direct reference to Yuthok's interest in such practices. The "cuckoo from the leafy for- ests" is another popular figure in Tibetan lyrics. The bird migrates to central Tibet T HE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A VISIONARY 371 during the springtime, and its sweet cooing voice is believed to enhance fertility and bring about rain. Here the cuckoo would appear to be Jigme Lingpa himself, the singer of poetry, and the transmitter of the fertile dharma and its "ripening and liberating nectars." Effecting a separation between narrator and author not uncommon in this sort of poetic song, the poet's voice reflects the perspective of his listeners, that is, the gathered disciples, or "vajra brothers," and their devotion to the lama who in this case is the author, Jigme Lingpa himself. The scene is a celebration of these vajra brothers' receipt of a tantric initiation in which symbolic liquids ("liberating nectars") are tasted, and the narrator has a vision of a deity and a lama (whose identities are not specified). The song culminates with a request that the lama bestow upon the disciples an esoteric teaching from the Great Perfection tradition ("the clear light vehicle," attributed to the dakinis, the female buddha/angel/trickster deities) concerning the achievement of a body of pure "rainbow" light. The second selection recounts Jigme Lingpa's reflections on another meeting with powerful political figures, the king and queen of the eastern Tibetan Khampa principality of Derge (Sde dge). This royal couple had been in correspondence with him for several years, influenced by reports of his virtues from fellow coun- trymen who had already journeyed to meet him in central Tibet. The couple from eastern Tibet is now on a pilgrimage to central Tibet, reminding us of a similar pilgrimage described elsewhere in this anthology. (See the description of the p i l - grimage by Do Khyentse's parents in chapter 3). Jigme Lingpa, aware of the serious burden entailed in hosting such an entourage, takes pains to deflect them away from his own humble retreat center and arranges for their meeting to occur instead at the ancient monastery of Samye (Bsam yas). Even here their demands exceed the resources of the area, and we see Jigme Lingpa objecting strenuously, both on behalf of the local people and in hopes of enlightening the king, in the con- ventional sense, about the merits of being considerate toward subjects and hosts in foreign lands. Jigme Lingpa gives a number of major teachings to the couple, including the "eight transmissions," which covers the principal eight tantric deities of the Nyingma, and the "heap of instructions," which concerns the practices of the Great Perfection tradition. He establishes a particularly close relationship with the queen; soon after this incident the king dies, but his queen and her son remain two of Jigme's principal patrons throughout his life. In addition to giving him many other sorts of support, she sponsors and oversees the publication of his Collected Works" toward the end of his life. Since this collection includes the outer autobiography from which the following passages are translated, Jigme Ling- Pa's candor in the final lines of the second selection, indicating that he rushed through his teachings to the king and queen so that their party would leave quickly, and coming close to comparing them to barbarians, is noteworthy. The translation below is excerpted from Yul Iho rgyud du byung ba'i rdzogs chen pa rang byung rdo rje mkhyen brtse'i od zer gyi mam par thar pa legs byas yongs 'du'i sn ye ma, in The Collected Works of 'Jigs-med-glin-pa Ran-byun-rdo-rje Mkhyen-brtse'i- 372 JANET GYATS •od -zer (J 730—1798), reproduced from a set of prints from the Sde dge Dgon chen blocks (Gangtok, Sikkim: Pema Thinley for Ven. Dodrup Chen Rinpoche, 1985) 9:1-502. Selection 1 is found on pp.

Load more

  8

Copy Link